January 4, 2013

CPAs and San Francisco Start Up’s – choosing a CPA that is a good choice for a start up

The selection of a certified public accountant for your business is one of the most important decisions that you’ll ever make as a business owner.  An accountant will see your organization’s financial records and be responsible for filing taxes, managing the books, and keeping track of your many accounts.  In many ways, an accountant has a better idea of the health of a business than most other employees.  For these reasons and many more, you need to choose your accountant very carefully.

 

The Elements of Good Customer Service – CPA Customer Service Matters

San Francisco Bay Area CPA Firm for Startup'sThere are two broad services that a good accountant can provide, namely practical and interpersonal.  An accountant’s practical skills include their ability to balance a budget, prepare taxes accurately and on time, manage diverse accounts, and assess financial risk.  Without a doubt, you want your CPA of choice to have these skills and many others. Having a local San Francisco-based CPA firm is a plus if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, but then again, we at Safe Harbor LLP work both with local clients in the Bay Area as well as clients all over California and the World. It just depends on how much face-to-face you think you need.

 

Interpersonal services are more subtle though no less important.  Good customer service includes:

–        Being a good listener

–        Being considerate of a business’s unique needs

–        Working closely with the owner or a representative to learn about an organization’s most recent financial activity

–        Provide a fair opinion about greater financial trends and how they can benefit a business

–        Being willing to explore a broad range of service options

 

Starting a New Business in the San Francisco Bay Area

All businesses have financial service needs unique to the industry they’re part of and start ups are no different.  Start up businesses actually have a number of needs not experienced by larger, more established organizations.  Because start ups have to do a lot of work very quickly, they need to have a financial partner that they can rely on.  If you’re the owner or manager of a start up company, don’t delay choosing a CPA firm to work with.  At the same time make sure that you’re not settling for a firm that doesn’t provide you with good customer service.

The foundation laid by the people responsible for the early years of a start up business will be what ultimately makes it or breaks it.  Hiring people that aren’t well-qualified or don’t have the experience you need won’t be able to make a valuable contribution to the work you want to do.  If you want to plan for long term business growth and a legacy of success, then it’s worth your time to hire the very best people.

 

The Importance of the Personal Touch

As a business owner in the Bay Area, you already know that establishing a relationship with your customer base is vital to your operations.  This relationship is created over a long period of time and requires you to be attuned to your customers’ needs.  The same goes for your accountant.  A good accountant will be available for questions and will give your accounts the personal attention required for professional record keeping.  They’ll also be able to connect you with avenues of assistance directly concerned with start ups.  Business loans are very valuable and are highly sought after by potential applicants.  Applying for a business loan can take a long time and some businesses struggle to find the resources necessary to complete the process.  An accountant can do a lot to connect you with loans you may qualify for and help you apply.

 

The accountants that choose to serve start ups and small businesses are among the best in the industry.  Once you find an attorney you work well with, you’ll have a financial partner that will give your business the very best.

The Best CPA Firm in San Francisco for Start-Up’s Doesn’t Exist

In sum, there isn’t one single ‘best CPA firm for Start Up’s’ but rather a personal match between your start up and the CPA Firm. It’s a little like getting married; date first. Create a prospective list of CPA Firms, interview them, and ‘go on a date.’ That’s why we offer a free 15 minute phone consult and some other easy arrangements to ‘test the waters.’